Guardians hire two-time All-Star catcher as manager over Craig Counsell

The Cleveland Guardians have finally announced their pick to replace Terry Francona: former catcher Stephen Vogt.

Vogt beat out a slew of candidates that included Brewers manager Craig Counsell and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Vogt, who spent last season as the Mariners' bullpen and quality control coach, had the least experience of the group, as he's only a year removed from retirement.

The 39-year-old will have enormous shoes to fill after Francona, the winningest manager in Guardians' history, stepped down at the end of the 2023 season. In Vogt's decade-long MLB career, he spent time with six different teams and earned two All-Star nods.

Why did Cleveland pick Vogt over the others? His youth, charismatic personality, and character may outweigh his relative lack of experience.

Guardians name former catcher Stephen Vogt as new manager

Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said in a statement:

"Stephen has thought critically about the type of leader and manager he wants to be. His deep care for others, his ability to build meaningful relationships with those around him, and his open-mindedness and curiosity make him an ideal fit to lead our club moving forward. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Stephen."

While Brewers' Craig Counsell may have been the popular "safe" pick, Vogt actually spent some time working with Counsell back in 2018. According to The Athletic, Vogt and the Brewers "struck an agreement on him serving as a coaching apprentice." Vogt had wanted to make the most of a lost season (he suffered a shoulder injury that year) and landed "a summer internship of sorts" working under Counsell.

Vogt ended up beating Counsell for the Cleveland managerial job and will now turn his attention to starting a new, youthful era of Guardians baseball following in the footsteps of a future Hall of Famer.